Party sets plans for major push if it wins Senate

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Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee fended off a challenge by a Tea Party rival that might have weakened the Republican Party.

By Carl HulseNew York Times
August 10, 2014

WASHINGTON — With control of Congress within reach, Republicans are quietly assembling an aggressive 2015 agenda built around a push for a balanced budget and quick approval of health and energy measures such as the Keystone XL pipeline to demonstrate that they can govern.

At the same time, they are warning Republican members who have chafed at their minority status for years that holding the majority is no guarantee they can get all they want.

Party leaders say that Republicans will need to be realistic about what they can achieve and that a high level of party unity will be essential since any Senate advantage they gain in the midterm elections is likely to be narrow.

“We need to change our mentality,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the number two Senate Republican. “Because we have been in the minority, some people are used to saying no. We need to find something we can say yes to, something that advances our agenda.”

Fear of a splintered majority was a principal reason top Senate Republicans were determined to fend off Tea Party challenges to incumbents, an effort that culminated last week with primary victories by Senators Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Pat Roberts of Kansas, two Senate veterans considered team players.

Republican leaders acknowledge they will need to persuade their most conservative colleagues, including several potential presidential contenders, to be satisfied with legislative gains that might fall short of their ideals. Insisting on all their demands could leave Republicans short of 51 votes, let alone the 60 that will still be required to pass most bills.

“We are going to have to convince people that we are not going to be perfect, but let’s at least move the ball down the field and try to do things many of us have wanted to do for a long time,” said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.

While they try to entice colleagues on the right, Senate Republican leaders must be mindful of the potential vulnerability of their senators up for reelection in 2016 — when the electoral climate will almost certainly be less favorable to them — in presidential swing states such as Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. They also would be contending with a Democratic minority eager to exact revenge for the difficulties Republicans caused them over the previous eight years.

Political complexities aside, top Republicans say they would embrace the chance to contrast their governing skills with those of the Democrats. They said their goal would be to try to quickly corner President Obama by sending him measures that already have bipartisan support but have been sidelined on Capitol Hill. Those would include approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, endorsement of natural gas exports, repeal of a new tax on medical devices, a change in the definition of full-time work under the new health care law to 40 hours from 30 hours, and a veterans employment bill.

“I want to focus on the things that I think can actually get 60 votes in the Senate,” said Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee.

One measure that does not require 60 votes is a budget, which needs only to attract a majority and does not go the president’s desk.

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who would chair the Budget Committee in a Republican-controlled Senate, says his party must strike a budget agreement to have credibility as a governing party. “Failure to get a budget is not an option,” Sessions said. “It won’t be easy, but we need to rise to the occasion. We need to have a budget that is not out of balance.”

Sessions concedes that balancing the budget without substantial new revenue would require painful, politically unpopular choices, particularly since many Republicans want to increase military spending.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that balancing the budget without new revenue would require more than $5 trillion in reductions over a decade.

In preparation, Sessions has directed staff members to pore through agency budgets to see what can could be scaled back or eliminated.

After four years of tension and combat with Senate Democrats, House Republicans say they are excited about the prospect of having willing partners across the Rotunda on spending, health, energy, education, and taxes.

“All Republicans are interested in moving forward on these issues, and one of the first steps is a budget that is agreed to,” said Representative Tom Price, Republican of Georgia, a conservative in line to replace Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as chairman of the Budget Committee.

Republicans say they would lay the procedural groundwork within the budget for more sweeping changes on taxes and in social programs such as Medicare and Medicaid by initiating an arcane budget process known as reconciliation.

The procedure can protect legislation from a filibuster and its 60-vote threshold and reduce the need for Democratic support.

“There are a lot of things you can do in reconciliation,” Thune said. “It would be nice to, in the budget process, start looking at the big stuff — tax reform, entitlements — and do some of the things we just haven’t had the capacity or will to do around here for a while.”

If Republicans came together on a major budget package, they could create an incentive for Obama to try to cut a deal with them, or face the prospect of a grinding veto stalemate.

Even as they talk about pragmatic achievable solutions, though, Republicans also say they are likely to take an early symbolic vote on repeal of the health care law, which would face a certain veto by Obama. After that showdown, Republicans say, they could move on to more realistic proposals and changes in the law.